Things I've Learned Recently

According to the Crocodile Hunter, some female rattlesnakes only have 2 or 3 sets of young in their lifetime. Also, the small brown ones are cute.

If you have prostate cancer and take steroids, its like "adding Miracle-Gro to a tomato plant. "

If you are a baseball player, steroids do nothing for you.

Barry Bonds is a lying liar and perhaps delusional as well.

I need to "consolidate my interest while the lights are active," according to a fortune cookie. Fortune or not, could someone explain what that means?

Yeah yeah Arizona

We're going back to Scottsdale for vacation in less than 2 weeks. woooo hooooo. Is there a lot to do there? Kind of. You have to look for it. The entire place is built around the idea that serenity is a way of life.

view from the driveway 

j & house  

The boys

Jason and Sylvester

Sometimes you can be a dad and not even realize it. Take my rat Sylvester, AKA Big Poppa for instance. He is living with 2 of his offspring and sees them as competition for the next piece of twisty pasta. He will be 3 in September. Jason is his son and lacks the head stripe.

Everything Tastes Better With MSG

...I figured out why I love Cheetos so much. The ingredient is fairly far down on the list but definitely accentuates the bright orangey cheez. Combined with the crispity crunch, I think I've found the crack cocaine of the savory snack world.
So today I confronted my boss about my lack of anything to do at work. I never thought that doing nothing (ok, surfing the 'net, hunting for good dinner recipes, IM'ing people and watching Homicide: Life on the Street) would get old but it really, really did.
I laid it out for her like this, "well i've been taking long lunches because why do nothing here when I can do nothing somewhere else?" I still can't believe I said that, but I truly made my case. She seemed to respect that and the meeting ended well, with a "Let's start fresh on Monday."
Works for me.

Sometimes Life is Fun

As Valentines' Day approaches, I start to pay attention to relationships more and more. I have philosophical thoughts such as, Is it possible for men and women to be 'just friends'? And, why does the neutered rat allow himself to be dominated repeatedly by the rats who are intact?
The thoughts mostly come like those electric shocks when you are wearing a fuzzy sweater. Tingly.
Sometimes relationships do make sense and those are the ones worth pondering. Why waste time thinking about whether your ex, Stoner Ben looked like Nick Lachey when you can read this? www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000283.php

Before I start my task of t-shirt inventory, i want to give a link to Nathalie's blog. She's a fellow Ratebeerian from Germany ~ an extremely sweet chica with and equally wonderful sense of humor.
We definitely have to meet up with her sometime soon for great beer, conversation and a titillating (i'm sure) story about where the title of her blog came from.
http://deboned.blogspot.com

Closer? Hurt?

I had a mild fascination with Trent Reznor in the 7th and 8th grades ~ to me he represented the consummate 'bad boy', someone who defied authority regularly and had a sneer that made me melt. And I think I dated Jon Gibbon as a result, which truly started to help me open my mind about life, in general. You know a guy likes you when they edit out the stuff he thinks your parents will find objectionable from a tape, knowing that the overall quality of the album will be greatly sacrificed.
They Might Be Giants, Day on the Hill...amazing times.

So now, listening to the Downward Spiral through the eyes of a 23 yr. old, I feel no different than when I was 14. The memories are the same, even if they are a bit dulled with time.

Anonymous

Yes, thats right. You can now post comments anonymously. Mr. Frederick, I know that spam you sent me was not accidental so post your true feelings without being exposed. hehehe

A Day in the Life

I'm not one to gush (or really notice, for that matter) regarding fashion, but I just saw my sister-in-law's wedding dress and all I can say is: daaaaamn,Gina! Which brings to mind the question,when's Martin gonna come out on DVD?
So I just have an hour left here and then I'm off to frolic, and by frolic I mean work out. I know a gal who works out for 2 hours straight x3 a week. Yowza.
I'm posting out for a job at another AGFS in town. Not much to say about that.
A guy in the department was just talking about how he wishes he could watch anime and smoke cigarettes and drink Bud Light all day instead of coming here. I don't know about the latter two activities, but remember fondly Uncle Al's anime collection and how he'd make sure there was no nudity for us young'ins.

Weezer & the Shins

Just found out that Weezer's new album will be out in May and the first single, Beverly Hills, from the yet-unnamed release will be on the air March 21. I don't have a lot of hope for hearing it around here though.
I'm so excited that they are going to tour soon ~ if anyone has tickets/airfare to the first night of the Coachella fest on uh, my mom's 50th birthday just let me know. hehehe
Oh yes, check out the Shins' Chutes Too Narrow if you get a chance. My favorite song right now is "Saint Simon."

Kokoro

So I'm reading this Japanese novel (J was assigned it for psych. lit) and it is really amazing. The word doesn't have a direct English translation but basically means the "heart of things." So far, the plot is focused on the relationship between the Sensei and a student and their friendship. I read the plot summary first, out of sheer curiosity/laziness, which has helped me focus on the dialogue more than I would usually.
"...is it not possible that you are also a lonely person? But I am an older man, and I can live with my loneliness, quietly. You are young, and it must be difficult to accept your loneliness. You must sometimes want to fight it."

Have you ever gotten a song that you've not heard in years and years stuck in your head? Right now I have Randy Travis's "Out of My Bones" going over and over.

I finally found one food that I just cannot stand. Cabbage soup. I followed the recipe (closer than i do most) and ate a small bowlful, hopefully the last one of my life. The cabbagey taste and texture reminded me at first of the small pieces in the vegetable soup that the Boy Scouts serve at their annual Chili Feed. But then the nostalgia was surpassed by...something else, something very unappetizing. I bet you are saying to yourself, "I could've gone a VERY long time without knowing that." If my dad reads this, I know he will think that to himself.
Right now, thinking of my dad leads me into thinking of his dog, Velvet, who is dying of kidney failure/old age/other ailments. We're going to say goodbye to her this weekend. I'm glad she's not in pain and still enjoys life though.